Heartbeats
by Iris Kane
Summary: Post 1:03 : Roman reveals how the cat's cradle string came to be in his possession, while Emery reminds him of their special connection.


**"Heartbeats"**

She had been wanting to know ever since her brief visit to the Sector. Emery wanted to know why Roman had the string hanging in his room. The yellow string formed into some oblong starlike shape.

"Where did Roman get this?" She asked, fingering the simple object.

"I don't know," his sister mused, "I doubt even he remembers."

Emery only nodded, making a mental note to ask Roman later-before she remembered he had been ignoring her.

Now, following the incidents at the Arrival Day celebration, Roman had been avoiding her more and more and it took some well-timed maneuvering to be able to speak to him again.

"What are you doing Emery?" He hissed, when she had caught up with him between classes, "I told you, you and me together isn't safe."

"What if I don't care?" Emery shot back in a loud whisper.

"Then you're going the right way to get yourself killed." Roman whispered back, and even though he sounded annoyed and angry Emery could tell he was worried too, but that was the last thing she was concerned about right now.

Roman moved to walk past her.

"Wait!" Emery exclaimed as she reached out to grab Roman's arm, and to her surprise he actually stopped. "There-there is something I've been meaning to ask you."

Roman gave her a questioning look, his blue eyes still hard.

"What is it Emery?"

"Where did you get that string this hanging in your room?"

"Meet me at the sector early tomorrow morning… Before everyone gets up, I'll tell you then."

That was the only thing Roman said before he walked away, his backpack slung over one shoulder.

Sneaking out turned out to be easier than she thought. Taking her father's badge she was able to get inside the Sector, and in the shadow of the chain-link fence and panels that surrounded the Atrian compound was where Roman met her. Wordlessly he took her hand and led her through the still darkened streets. Their home was quiet and Emery wasn't sure whether his family was still asleep or if he had managed to convince his sister, Sophia to keep quiet.

"I'll tell you quick and then you have to leave, as soon as people know you're here… It could be dangerous."

"Can't you slow down for a minute," Emery whispered, "everything was going great between us and then there were the uprisings in the sector and you've been ignoring me ever since!"

"It's for your own safety," Roman reiterated, "the closer we are the more danger you're in."

Emery gazed around the small room, her eye-catching the object of her fascination and she walked over to it. Once again, she took it in her hands.

"Tell me." She murmured.

"The day we met, I'll never forget it," Roman said, his voice low, as he settled behind her, his hands coming up to join hers enclosing the small object. "I meant what I said in my speech on Arrival Day; you were kind to me and I appreciate it." He turned her towards him so for the first time in as many weeks they were facing each other, looking each other in the eye. "That means more than you'll ever know."

For the first time in as many days Roman smiled.

It was like that night in the forest when they had run from the guys at school pursuing Roman, when Emery's loyalty had been for someone who's priorities were in the right place and not even her own species (not that that mattered). She remembered just standing there on the pathway with Roman and they had just looked at each other, sharing a moment in which they were the only two people that existed and none of the differences between their species or cultures mattered.

Then Emery found herself hugging him, her arms wrapped around his torso her head settled against his chest.

At first, Roman didn't move he only stood there his arms awkwardly suspended as if he wasn't sure what to do first.

"Thank you." She whispered, her voice still in hushed tones as not to wake the rest of the household.

"For what." Roman muttered into her hair, he sounded bemused.

"Just for keeping that," she nodded to the string, "I don't know maybe it just shows me you haven't forgotten me."

"Of course not." Roman murmured, "anything I do it's because of you, you know that right?"

Emery looked up at him her face a question.

"But you never give me a chance…" She murmured. Her fingers continue tracing his torso her other hand coming in contact with his as they stood there, palm to palm as they had in the forest; a breath away from something irreversible. Emery settled back against Roman's chest, underneath the soft fabric of his T-shirt she felt a heartbeat, like a small bird fluttering under her hand. Behind it she heard an echo; his unique anatomy that had probably saved his life on Arrival Day. Again, she felt Roman stiffen as if he would push her away, but something in him wanted this even if it was just a few minutes with her. Pressed against him she heard the heartbeats again, working in concert a soft "swish", "whoosh" in her ear. She smiled.

"Why can't people see how uniquely beautiful you are?" She whispered softly, unsure of whether Roman had even heard her.

"I'm working towards that, peace between our people… Like my father wanted, the future he envisioned among the humans. A future, that can't seem to come fast enough," Roman chuckled softly as he pulled back one arms still loosely draped around Emery's waist. "Sophia wants so badly to fit into the human world, she's fascinated with it. Come on, I'll walk you back to the gate, we'll lose the darkness in a few hours."

They slipped out of the small dwelling in the graying darkness. It was sometime after 4 AM and the sun would rise in about an hour. For the first time in a long time Emery had Roman to herself and wasn't causing the tug-of-war that seemed to have ensued between their species. Today, their connection had been effortless like it had been all those years ago.


End file.
